Obama: U.S. must end dependence on fossil fuels

[one...two...tree 2,762]

By JULIE PACE, Associated Press Writer

PITTSBURGH – Seizing on a disastrous oil spill to advance a cause, President Barack Obama on Wednesday called on Congress to roll back billions of dollars in tax breaks for oil and pass a clean-energy bill that he says would help the nation end its dependence on fossil fuels.

Obama predicted that he would find the political support for legislation that would dramatically alter the way Americans fuel their homes and cars, including placing a price on carbon pollution, even though such legislation is politically divisive and remains bogged in the Senate.

"The votes may not be there right now, but I intend to find them in the coming months," Obama told an audience at Carnegie Mellon University. "I will continue to make the case for a clean energy future wherever and whenever I can, and I will work with anyone to get this done. And we will get it done."

Obama said the country's continuing dependence on fossil fuels "will jeopardize our national security, it will smother our planet and will continue to put our economy and our environment at risk."

The president spoke as Americans remain deeply frustrated by the worst oil spill in the nation's history, which is still spewing crude in the Gulf of Mexico more than a month after a BP drilling rig sank. He sought anew to connect to that public angst while promising that "we're waging this battle every minute of every day" to plug the gushing oil well deep below the sea's surface.

The proposal to roll back oil company tax breaks is something Obama has discussed in the past, and included in his most recent budget proposal, but it's not been a talking point of late. Now with the spill casting Big Oil in the worst possible light, calling for the elimination of oil company subsidies is one more way for Obama to show the public he wants to hold the industry accountable.

"The time has come, once and for all, for this nation to fully embrace a clean energy future," the president said.

That means improving energy efficiency, tapping natural gas reserves, pursuing nuclear power "and it means rolling back billions of dollars in tax breaks to oil companies so we can prioritize investments in clean energy research and development."

Obama said that the Gulf spill "may prove to be a result of human error — or corporations taking dangerous shortcuts that compromised safety" — but that deepwater drilling is inherently risky and the U.S. cannot rely solely on fossil fuels.

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[Ban Hammer 12,835]

yup, let's use the oil spill in the gulf to create a knee jerk reaction in congress.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

yup, let's use the oil spill in the gulf to create a knee jerk reaction in congress.

"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste," Rahm Emanuel, Obama's chief of staff

[Sock Puppet 14]

yup, let's use the oil spill in the gulf to create a knee jerk reaction in congress.

Yes, because decreasing our dependance on oil is a kneejerk reaction.

Are you one of those deniers who think that there is really an endless supply of oil and that scientists are just lying to us all?

[Peikko 1,575]

There are endless supplies of oil, largely because many oil deposits are uneconomical to extract - even with an increase in price of gas at the pumps.

[mawilson 2,133]

And what exactly are we going to replace oil with?

Natural gas is one possible answer, but it's still a "fossil fuel".

[jimnlena 8]

[Sock Puppet 14]

We could boil down all the smug douchebags of the world and run our cars with "Essence of Douchebag".

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

We could boil down all the smug douchebags of the world and run our cars with "Essence of Douchebag".

[Ban Hammer 12,835]

Yes, because decreasing our dependance on oil is a kneejerk reaction.

Are you one of those deniers who think that there is really an endless supply of oil and that scientists are just lying to us all?

maybe you weren't around during the oil spill in the gulf in '79. it was far worse. and i sure didn't see people using that as political leverage to advance an agenda.

[Sock Puppet 14]

maybe you weren't around during the oil spill in the gulf in '79. it was far worse. and i sure didn't see people using that as political leverage to advance an agenda.

Sorry, but I'm too young to remember that. It doesn't mitigate that fact that dereasing our dependance on fossil fuels is a good idea regardless of the circumstances in which it arose. Care to actually debate that fact, or you just going to continue with the smug quips?

[Ban Hammer 12,835]

Sorry, but I'm too young to remember that. It doesn't mitigate that fact that dereasing our dependance on fossil fuels is a good idea regardless of the circumstances in which it arose. Care to actually debate that fact, or you just going to continue with the smug quips?

i don't recall saying decreasing out dependance on fossils fuels was a bad thing

but do look up the '79 oil spill in the gulf - it will put this current one in perspective.

Edited June 2, 2010 by charles!

[Sock Puppet 14]

i don't recall saying decreasing out dependance on fossils fuels was a bad thing

but do look up the oil spill in the gulf - it will put this current one in perspective.

It's a natural disaster, and a politician brought up the idea of decreasing our dependance upon oil up. How does another oil spill that was worse than this one change anything? The fact remains that we should be addressing this on far greater scale.

Your terse response initially suggested that you don't take any of it seriously.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

It probably doesn't matter, we are far too close to Peak Oil to react in time now. (I'm being semi-serious...we should try but I am a little scared it might be too late.)

Edited June 2, 2010 by Sousuke

[Ban Hammer 12,835]

It's a natural disaster, and a politician brought up the idea of decreasing our dependance upon oil up. How does another oil spill that was worse than this one change anything? The fact remains that we should be addressing this on far greater scale.

Your terse response initially suggested that you don't take any of it seriously.

i'd term it more "man-made" disaster - kinda like the one during desert storm when saddam had the kuwaiti oil wells set on fire.

as for how another oil spill was worse than this - i don't recall the howl and cry back in '79 when there was one far worse. yet here we are.....